While China has continued to meddle in India’s internal affairs especially on the issue of Kashmir, India over the years has chosen to not spook the dragon over Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan. However, China’s backstabbing at the LAC means that all the gloves are off as in a significant development, India has posted a senior diplomat to Taiwan which effectively mean India has sown the first seeds towards recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation.
In a move that will solidify India’s ties with Taiwan, India has posted Gourangalal Das who used to handle Indo-US relations as its new envoy to Taiwan. The Indian Express reports that Das who is currently Joint Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been designated as the new envoy to Taiwan.
A Joint Secretary in the MEA posted to handle India’s relations with the US, China and Pakistan, is considered to be important and hence, this move has far-reaching consequences as India is puncturing a hole in the Chinese Communist Party’s “One China policy”.
Das has had a chequered career as he served in China between 2001 and 2004 and was also the Deputy Secretary handling External Affairs in Manmohan Singh’s PMO and is considered to have played a key role in the revival of the Quadrilateral mechanism between India, US, Australia and Japan.
Knowingly or unknowingly, China made its displeasure known as Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Weidong in a statement said, “We need to respect and accommodate mutual core interests and major concerns, adhere to the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”
Anyone who desires peace with China must not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign nation as Beijing likes to believe that Taiwan is a dissenting territory which must be integrated into the mainland, by force if necessary. As a result, very few countries have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and unfortunately for Taiwan, all of the countries matter little when it comes to a global power play.
Not many know that during the swearing-in of Prime Minister Modi in 2014, Chung-Kwang Tien, the then Taiwan’s representative to India, along with Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration were invited to the swearing-in.
This moves comes on the back of the Indian government sending two BJP MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rahul Kaswan to virtually attend the swearing-in of Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing Wen earlier in May.